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Representative Price has moved his position on getting out of Iraq closer to that of his constituents. After objecting to H.R. 55 because he has an issue with the clause that states: "Establishing a plan for the withdrawal of all United States Armed Forces from Iraq limited only by steps to ensure the safety of such armed Forces", he introduced his own, watered down, resolution H.J. 70 .

Differences between the two bills are:

H.R. 55 is explicit in implementation of the plan submitted to congress. Submission of the plan is to be done by December 31, 2005 and the initiation of the actual withdrawal to be done no later than October 1, 2006 no later than October 1, 2006.

Whereas, H.J. 70 only asks for a plan to include some required actions. There are no requirements for implementation or submission of the plan itself.

The “Bring the Troops Home Resolution” adopted by the Orange County Democrats on April 9, 2005 clearly states “that the Orange County Democratic Party Urges the U.S. Government to immediately begin withdrawal of U.S. troops on a firm timetable; to aggressively pursue internationalization of peacekeeping, security and redevelopment efforts in Iraq; and to work to ensure that the emerging Iraq Government has full sovereignty over its political and economic policies.”

The US government must declare it has no interest in permanent military bases or controlling Iraqi oil or other resources.

The US government must set goals for ending the occupation and bringing all our and troops and contracted mercenaries home, in months, not years, beginning with an initial withdrawal of troops by the end of this year.

The US government must request that the United Nations monitor the process of military disengagement and de-escalation, and organize a peaceful reconstruction effort.

The US government should appoint a peace envoy independent of the occupation authorities to underscore its commitment to an entirely different mission—that of a peace process ending the occupation and returning our soldiers home.

The peace envoy should encourage and cooperate in talks with Iraqi groups opposed to the occupation, including insurgents, to explore a political settlement. The settlement must include representation of opposition forces and parties, and power-sharing and the protection of women's rights as core principles of governance and economic and energy development.

Indeed, even prior to the return of United Nations inspectors in December 2002 and the U.S. invasion of Iraq four months later, it is hard to understand how anyone could have taken seriously the administration's claims that Iraq was somehow a grave national security threat to the United States. And, despite assertions by administration apologists that "everybody" thought Saddam Hussein possessed chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and an advanced nuclear program immediately prior to the March 2003 invasion, the record shows that such claims were strongly contested, even within the U.S. government.

The 'Out of Iraq' Congressional Caucus was founded in June 2005 to pressure the Administration to end the war in Iraq. It has 69 members.
While there has been some confusion about this group, during a recent meeting Price described this "caucus" as the supporters of a single bill, HR 55 (which Price does not support), while the more general "Iraq Working Group" is a group of House members who meet to discuss and strategize around the Iraq issue, meeting which Rep. Price regularly attends.

The Forums have been a success is letting Price now about the dissatisfaction that his constituents have with his weak stand on the issue of Iraq. More forums in other counties within the 4th Congressional District (Chatham, Wake, and Durham)
are needed that:

Highlight discrepancies between Price's stand and that of his constituency.

Allow 4th District constituency to get facts that are independent from the national mainstream media. The national mainstream media effectively homogenizes discourse to a national average.

We are currently circulating a petition(www.petitiononline.com/dsmnc/petition.html for investigation of the Downing Street memos as evidence for impeaching Bush (also available at Internationalist Books and the weekly peace vigils in Chapel Hill and at the Durham Food Coop).